Catch Me I'm Falling
by Winds of Inspiration
Summary: After he takes her in she begins to feel at home despite not knowing her past and he starts being reminded of parts of his past he never fully let go. Yet in good times and bad times the two come closer, staying strong. Yet an old enemy is back to destroy everything they worked for. My take on the Belladonna plot set in the PPG-verse. AceXButtercup. Please read and review.


**A/N: Hey so this is just a note saying that this is my take on the Belladonna story line from Fusionfall set in the PPG-Verse. I am sure that I am probably not the only one who has done this as a fanfiction, but I hope y'all enjoy it nonetheless. And a big thank you to my Beta RandomDalmatian326 and if I could have an extra user willing to beta that would be great for the sake of multiple perspectives and help on these so in the remainder of the story, all of my chapters will be in great shape. Thank you and enjoy reading! :)  
I do not own the Powerpuff Girls or Fusionfall all rights reserved to Craig McCracken and Cartoon Network. Please enjoy and read and review.**

**Chapter One: All That's Known **

In a fairly quiet RV park, not too far from the coast of the Pacific Ocean, a few miles outside of Pasadena, California—it seemed as though it was just another day. Especially for a man wearing sunglasses late into the afternoon with an abnormally green complexion who was just as complex as he appeared. His name? Ace Copular.

Ace was sitting outside the RV taking a break from practicing with the band: he pondered his plans with the gang-turned-band as he lit another cigarette. It seemed as though things were starting to look sunny side up on his road. Since their first three gigs, the band seemed to be at a good start and now their agent finally had them booked for their fourth gig. They managed to get two in Citiesville, but then finally decided to try going farther out. However, the most recent one was at a run-down carnival, which was not the most ideal location. Now they were finally performing at a Battle of the Bands at a local club—the real way to get started in the business of being a rock-band. Though their agent did say he had to meet with Ace over "specific logistics", it was still a good sign for them. It was the beginning of the group's successful climb to the high life at last. Once they hit their twenties, the former gangsters grew tired of their teenage wasteland and wanted to try something more refreshing. Ace knew this day would come eventually since they could not be the same Gangreen Gang for their whole lives. Sure it was fun, but as time went by what they did for fun just got boring—that and dealing with daily beatings from three super-powered little girls were no longer worth putting up with.

Getting out of Townsville at last was one of the best feelings ever. He and his gang were finally away from that nightmare of a city—even the mayor was a total idiot and the only people who seemed to know what was going on were three science-lab experiment crime-fighters known as the Powerpuff Girls. Born as five-year olds they had been using their superpowers to stop bad guys, and that included them; they may not have been at the top of their list like the freaky monkey guy, but not close to the bottom like those lame oversized amoebas either. In general, there were too many troubles in that pathetic excuse for a town to even stay.

He was going to have another smoke, but looked down and realized the pack was finished. He figured that Lil Arturo must have swiped a few when he was not paying attention. Reluctantly, he left the parking area for the drug store.

Despite being a smoker for years now, Ace was not one to call it the worst of his problems—smoking did the opposite—it made him feel more relaxed in facing his problems since he first encountered cigarettes at fifteen; when he was young and still experimenting with many things. Though on many days, he wished his biggest problem were cigarettes; everything else in this fucked up world of his would seem more tolerable. But he had constantly managed to put those issues in the very back of his mind; there were some things not worth sharing with anyone—not even with his own band of brothers. Maybe before long, cigarettes would be his only problem considering where the he and the gang were heading.

Suddenly, he saw a figure huddled in a ball in the alley. It was just like any other damp, trash filled dark alleyway. But seeing a girl pulling her legs toward her stomach, with her head resting over her knees, cursing herself made the scene unique in its' own unnerving way. Had Ace not heard her say a thing, he would have thought it was just another crazed homeless person and continue forward. But having heard her furious curses, and they sounded sane enough to him. Taking a closer look he saw a pair of emerald orbs that seemed to seethe frustration and confusion. He began to drift closer to the lost figure out of nothing more than curiosity.

"Whatsa matter?" Ace asked while examining the person before him, who in response to his words looked up further and screamed. She then stood up, clenched fists, and ready to destroy his fangs.

"Hey, hey, hey! Easy there kid! What's da big idea?" he cried stepping back, and grabbing her wrists in hopes of keeping them from making contact with his face.

"Get away from me you monster!" she cried, using all the force within her to break free from his grasp. Her green eyes were narrowing to form a "V" with her brows. Ace could tell that she was trying so hard to seem unafraid and intimidating. Intimidating she definitely was, but there was still a hint of fear and uncertainty beneath the aggressive manner she was presenting.

"Monster? What-," his eyes widened to a point, where he felt his glasses begin to fall off. Had he not been trying to restrain an angry girl who was on the verge of cutting his circulation off, he would have pushed them back to a stable position; nonetheless they remained on his face. The angry little girl on the other hand, was ready to explode like a bomb.

"Oh c'mon! You're green! Normal people are not green!" though Ace was more than aware of his unusual pigmentation, but for some reason when she said, "normal people are not green" it irked him. He was used to his green skin and monstrous qualities, but that did not mean he was always that way.

"Well yah knows what? Normal peoples don't sit and mope in alleys!" her face went from pale to red as a beat, angry and embarrassed for having someone remind her of her previously, wimpy behavior. She was definitely ready to make his fangs shatter out of his mouth. Ace was nearly convinced smoke would start coming out of her ears like a teakettle. Just as she was finally going to try to beat him senseless, she seemed to lose balance and began to fall over, slipping out of Ace's grasp. On instinct, he caught her, and set her back down on the ground, sitting beside her. Though she seemed rather breathless from shock at her sudden collapse she began to harshly gasp for air. Looking down at her hands, as though she had lost something of importance she nearly croaked, "Shit…I was fine getting out of the water but now…"

"The water?" Ace said lifting up his shades, examining her suddenly fatigued expression. She lifted a finger and pointed in the direction of the beach.

"Yea, from that shore over-,"

"Kid I knows what yah talkin' 'bout but what was you doin'?" in the back of his head Ace began to ask himself why the hell he cared about a random stranger in an alley. Let alone why he was even concerned in the first place. He shrugged matter-of-factly to himself and waited for the girl to say something, putting his shades back on.

Silence took over as she looked toward the overcast horizon of the ocean. She then looked down and began stumbling, "I—I—I don't know…." As she croaked the words, her green eyes were wide as though she had just witnessed a car crash; she suddenly dropped her head in her hands, her elbows resting on her knees.

"What?" before his shades could fall off again, he fixed them so they would hopefully stay on, and not budge.

"I—I don't know… I…I don't know anything…"

As if on cue, Ace felt his head pound. Now would have be a really good time for a cigarette. Meeting with the agent tomorrow was enough to stress about and he did not recall asking for any more stress.

"What do yah mean by that?" she looked up, but seemed to want to avoid making any eye contact with him. Much to Ace's relief though, his shades were doing a good job of hiding his growing apprehension; she began to reveal the circumstances of her current situation.

"I don't remember anything before waking up near the shore!" the sound of her chocked up voice was a dead-give away for Ace that she was trying not to cry.

"Don't yah gotta name?" he asked. If she knew anything about herself at least she could probably find her way home, he could get his pack, then go back to the RV with the boys and practice for their gig. But that was nowhere near the case when she choked out, "Maybe, but I…I don't remember it…I don't remember…"

_Oh shit…_ Ace thought.

_The kids got no memory. _

At this point he was not completely sure what to do with her. He knew leaving the girl was no longer an option; it could potentially damage his career prospects if people knew he was still the same hoodlum who could care less about anyone but himself—he could not let an amnesiac roam the streets and get hurt; he knew he would probably regret it. There was always the hospital, but then he did not want to get stares or questions from any concerned doctors about his skin; making the girl go by herself was an equally bad idea—there was a chance she probably did not even remember what a doctor was if she did not remember her own name.

As unsure as he was with himself, Ace knew there was only one solution. Standing back up he breathed deeply, looked down at her and said,

"Come with me,"

"What?" said the nameless girl, who after studying her for sometime, Ace concluded was probably in her mid teens—fifteen or sixteen at the very least.

"Yah heard me," Ace replied, slightly irritated with the situation as he stood up.

Narrowing her eyes, she gave him cold stare, but she realized he was the only person she had talked to, let alone offered some source of safety for her. She was a young girl who was cold, wet, and had no memories of her past. If she wanted to survive at all, the green punk monster man was her best option Looking back in the direction of the ocean, then down the alley, and finally back at Ace, she extended a hand, and he lifted her up to her feet.

She walked next to him as they began to head to what she assumed would be where he lived. She looked upward and noticed a few things about this man besides his odd skin color. He seemed to have a set of fangs that stuck out slightly even with his mouth closed. But more than anything else, she noticed that only once during their meeting he removed his shades. Not only that, but the sun was almost done setting and they had still not left his face. But she was not in the mood to ask him about those.

"The names Ace, by the way," he told her. He did not look her in the eyes, but she realized it was because maybe he suspected pity was something she did not want, and was making an effort to not show he felt bad for her.

_At least he has name…_ she thought to herself. She wished she could have at least remembered one thing from her past—even if it had been her first name only, she would still possess some sense of identity that she was actually a person with a name with some sort of history. Any of that history was gone, vanished. The only possessions she had with her clothes—a black chocker with an onyx gem, fingerless gloves, a black tank top, a green skirt, sneakers, and long socks. The only information about her that her clothes possessed was her style, which seemed to say that she had a strong preference for black and green. Not that she could complain—at least she had not been wearing anything completely stupid like a dress or something pink, or anything ridiculously girly. But she could not rely on clothing to define who she was—if she did not remember her own name, she would get a new name.

"Ace," she muttered, lifting her head and turning to try and face him as they continued to walk.

"What is it?" he asked, and though his shades guarded his expressions well, she could tell from the sound of his words that there was a hint of caring present despite his rather spiteful demeanor.

"I want a name…I might as well have something to go by until I find out who I really am, if I ever find out…" she mumbled, knowing that the chances of that happening were probably slim.

"Okay," said Ace matter-of-factly to her, "What was you thinkin' of?"

"I'm not completely sure…I just want anything that isn't dumb,"

Ace looked at the girl. Despite her amnesia she still had something of a character—tough, fiery, if a bit stubborn. If she had not collapsed, she could have given him a pretty good piece of her mind. He chuckled to himself lightly and thought, _Reminds me of that green puff...Buddacup…still savin' the town with those sisters of hers'. _

He shook that thought out of his head. Buttercup had not crossed his mind for years, not since he finally got away from her particularly violent attacks.

"Do you have any ideas?"

He knew he needed something now from hearing the growing impatience in her voice.

That question brought Ace back to earth and to the issue of naming the girl.

_Nothing dumb-sounding, but nice enough…something unique, dangerous…_

"How about Bu—" he stopped himself before he could finish. _Where the hell did that come from? _He thought to himself before he gave a name. A name that was just right, "Sorry, uh how's Belladonna?" shoving his hands down his jacket pockets, he forced an encouraging grin, but tried not to reveal the rows of fangs, let alone scare the girl.

"Belladonna," she pronounced each syllable trying to feel out the potential of the name on her tongue. Something that appeared to be a very slight grin began to form on her face, "Sounds kick-ass to me."


End file.
